I shall omit former particulars, and begin with informing the Reader, that, in 1792, I was strangely visited, by day and night, concerning what was coming upon the whole earth.
Joanna Southcott

I was now ordered to have my writings copied, and put into the printer's hand.
Joanna Southcott

If they can prove that I am wrong by that time, I will give it up to their wisdom, but not after to any one's judgment, till I see the end of another year; for the Lord will begin with a new century; and I will see what he will do, before I will hearken to any man's judgment.
Joanna Southcott

In 1792, my Sister told me, I was growing out of my senses.
Joanna Southcott

My faith grew strong, and I sent a letter (as I was ordered) to the Rev. Dignitary of the Cathedral of Exeter. I was assured, before I sent it, he would not answer it.
Joanna Southcott

New-Year's Day arriving, and the ministers, to whom I wrote, remaining silent, I consider their silence as evidence, that they cannot prove what I said not to be from the Lord, and have therefore published as I was directed.
Joanna Southcott

More Joanna Southcott quotes

AFTER having been twice driven back by heavy southwestern gales, Her Majesty’s ship Beagle, a ten-gun brig, under the command of Captain Fitz Roy, R. N., sailed from Devonport on the 27^th of December, 1831. The object of the expedition was to complete the survey of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, commenced under Captain King in 1826 to 1830, -- to survey the shores of Chile, Peru, and of some islands in the Pacific—and to carry a chain of chronometrical measurements round the World.
Opening lines from The Voyage of The Beagle, by Charles Darwin, who set sail on December 27, 1831

At last we anchored within Sydney Cove. We found the little basin occupied by many large ships, and surrounded by warehouses. In the evening I walked through the town, and returned full of admiration at the whole scene. It is a most magnificent testimony to the power of the British nation. Here, in a less promising country, scores of years have done many more times more than an equal number of centuries have effected in South America. My first feeling was to congratulate myself that I was born an Englishman. Upon seeing more of the town afterwards, perhaps my admiration fell a little; but yet it is a fine town. The streets are regular, broad, clean, and kept in excellent order; the houses are of a good size, and the shops well furnished. It may be faithfully compared to the large suburbs which stretch out from London and a few other great towns in England; but not even near London or Birmingham is there an appearance of such rapid growth. The number of large houses and other buildings just finished was truly surprising; nevertheless, every one complained of the high rents and difficulty in procuring a house.
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of The Beagle, entry for January 12, 1836  

Nothing is more dangerous for man's private morality than the habit of command. The best man, the most intelligent, disinterested, generous, pure, will infallibly and always be spoiled at this trade. Two sentiments inherent in power never fail to produce this demoralization; they are: contempt for the masses and the overestimation of one's own merits.
Michael Bakunin, Russian anarchist, who arrived in London on December 27, 1861

Dear Madame, you make an absurd, though common mistake in supposing that any human creature can help you to be an authoress, if you cannot become one in virtue of your own powers ...
Charles Dickens writes to an inquiring reader, December 27, 1866

My bed-fellows are cramp and cough – we three all in one bed.
Last words of Charles Lamb, English essayist, who died on December 27, 1834

Nexte John the sonne of Zebedee hath his appoynted day,
Who once by cruell Tyrannts' will, constrayned was they say
Strong poyson up to drinke; therefore the Papistes do beleeve
That whoso puts their trust in him, no poyson them can greeve:
The wine beside that halowed is in worship of his name,
The Priestes doe give the people that bring money for the same.
And after with the selfe same wine are little manchets made
Agaynst the boystrous Winter stormes, and sundrie such like trade.
The men upon this solemne day, so take this holy wine
To make them strong, so do the maydes to make them faire and fine.
Naogeorgus (1511 - '63); The Popish Kingdom, (translated by Barnabe Googe, 1540 - '94). Today is the Feast of St John the Divine.

... a tall, ungainly man, about six feet four inches in height, and altogether his looks were not in his favour; he had a shaggy head of black hair, a low forehead with overhanging eyebrows nearly concealing his small eyes, a short snub nose, a face very much marked by smallpox, and was just such a man as one would suppose fit to commit burglary or murder.
Description of William Buckley by George Russell, who met the Australian bushman in 1836

I had nearly forgotten to give the reader a short personal description of our famous adventurer. Buckley must have been a splendid young man, being nearly seven feet high; even at the present moment there is something original, but quite sedate about him. His features have been rather darkened by 32 years exposure to the sun of Australia, and there is certainly something stern and 'savage' in them, however thoroughly softened by a moral and intelligent composure, if I shall call it so. He told me that amongst the 'savages' also, men of superior mind and understanding are to be found. Well then, Buckley was one of such.
Dr J Lohtsky, Polish explorer in Australia, describing William Buckley in an interview in the Tasmanian and Australia-Asiatic Review, January 26, 1838

December 27 is the 361^st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (362^nd in leap years), with 4 days remaining.
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Feast day of St John the Divine (John the Apostle; the Theologian; 'the Evangelist')

(Flame heath, Erica flammea, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.)

"The disciple whom Jesus loved" he calls himself in his Gospel. He was the only apostle  of Jesus who died a natural death, and he outlived all the others, dying at Ephesus aged 94, in 100 CE. Because John was the youngest apostle he is usually represented as young and handsome.

John was traditionally held to be the author of five books of the New Testament, including the Gospel of John, but many scholars today doubt this. Catholic/Orthodox tradition says that he and the Virgin Mary moved to Ephesus, where both eventually died. Many Evangelical and other scholars question this, especially due to the advanced age that Mary would have reached by this time. Some believe, however, that there is support for the idea that John did go to Ephesus and from there wrote the three epistles sometimes attributed to him.

Miracles

This St John’s symbol in art is a cup with a winged serpent flying out of it. The story behind this symbolism is as follows: Aristodemos, a priest of the goddess Diana, challenged John to drink a cup of poison. John made the sign of the cross on the cup, whereupon Satan in the form of a dragon flew from it, and John drank the potion without harm. Another legend says that when John was en route to preach in Asia, his ship was wrecked in a storm and all but John were cast ashore. John was assumed dead, but 2 weeks later the waves cast him ashore alive at the feet of his disciple Prochoros. When he prayed in a temple of Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and Leto, fire from heaven killed 200 pagan men who worshipped the statue of that goddess, but when the remaining group begged for mercy, John raised the 200 from the dead; they all converted to Christianity and were baptised.

St John is said to have taken Mary, the mother of Jesus, to Ephesus after the crucifixion. In 95 CE, during the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Domitian, he was plunged into boiling oil but remained unharmed, or so it is said. May 6 is the Christian feast day (‘The Latin gate’, named for the place of its occurrence) commemorating John’s torture in oil.

Domitian afterwards allegedly banished the saint to the Aegean Sea’s Isle of Patmos, where he witnessed and worked among the criminals condemned to slave in the mines, had his visions that he documented in The Book of the Revelation (the last book of the Holy Bible, sometimes erroneously referred to as Revelations). There is, however, some dispute as to the authorship of this book, as well as the Gospel.

The Roman Catholic Church commemorates St John on December 27. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates him on September 26, and also remembers him on May 8, on which date Christians used to take from his grave fine ashes which were effective for healing the sick.

St John and the King of England

When the English king, St Edward the Confessor was dedicating a church to St John the Divine, a pilgrim came and asked alms in the saint's name, whereupon St Edward gave the stranger a ring from his finger. The pilgrim was St John; later he revealed himself to two English pilgrims in the Holy Land, bidding them to take the ring to the king in his name, and to ask him to prepare to leave this world. After this they fell asleep and awoke in Barham Downs, Kent, England, soon taking the ring to St Edward, on Christmas Day. On the vigil (January 5) of Epiphany, the king died. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, wearing the ring.

St John transformed branches of trees into fine gold, and sea-gravel into precious stones. St John is the patron of booksellers and publishers, due to the beauty of his writings. Today is traditionally a feast day for Freemasons. Traditionally, some Germans drink a loving-cup in his honour on this day. Elsewhere in Europe, people drank wine blessed by priests, to make them strong, because St John drank poison and was unharmed. Devotees made manchets or little loaves, and those who ate them were safe from poison for one year. Or, so it is said.

Patronage
Against poison; art dealers, Asia Minor, authors, bookbinders, booksellers, burns, editors, engravers, friendships, lithographers, painters, poisoning, printers, publishers, tanners, theologians, typesetters, writers

John

From Hebrew Jochanan, meaning 'God is gracious', via Greek and Latin Johannes. French: Jean (formerly Jehan). Italian: Giovanni. Russian: Ivan. Gaelic: Ian. Irish: Sean or Shaun. Welsh: Evan. German: Johann or Johannes (contracted to Jan, Jan and Hans).

The name has been used by more Popes than any other, the last being John XXIII.

Aix-en-Provence, France

On the Feast Day of St John, cats were formerly put together in a wicker basket and thrown into a bonfire kindled by the bishop and clergy. There might be associations with the friction between Christianity and older 'pagan' religions here; compare with this custom, that which was practised on the Feast Day of Corpus Christi on which people used to worship a cat.

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The Twelve Days of Christmas Day 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Two turtle doves And a partridge in a pear tree.   Calli, Aztec Tonalpohualli, the sacred Aztec calendar: Today is Calli (House); its protector is Tepeyollotl, Heart of the Mountain. According to the Aztecs, Calli is a good day for rest, tranquillity and family life but not a good day for participating in public life. It’s best spent cementing relationships of trust and mutual interests.   Basilindia, ancient Greece (Dec 22 - 28) Halcyon Days, ancient Greece and Rome (Dec 14 - 28) Feast of Marimba, South Africa, Goddess of Musical Happiness Feast day of St Adelheidis of Tennenbach Feast day of St Bonaventure Tolomei Feast day of St Hesso of Beinwil Feast day of St John Stone Feast day of St Maximus of Alexandria Feast day of St Theodore Feast day of St Walto of Wessobrünn Feast of the Holy Innocents, Eastern Orthodox Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints Kwanzaa, African-American holiday (Dec 26 - Jan 1)       1571 Johannes Kepler (d. 1630), German astronomer who discovered the elliptical shape of planetary orbits 1654 Jacob Bernoulli (d. 1705), Swiss mathematician 1717 Pope Pius VI (d. 1799) 1773 George Cayley (d. 1857), naturalist, physical scientist, engineer, inventor, politician 1822 Louis Pasteur (d. 1895), French scientist 1823 Sir Mackenzie Bowell (d. 1896), fifth Prime Minister of Canada 1851 Percy Gilchrist (d. 1935), metallurgist 1860 David Hendricks Bergey (d. 1937), bacteriologist 1879 Sydney Greenstreet (d. 1954), British actor (The Maltese Falcon; Casablanca) 1888 Thea von Harbou (d. 1954), author and actress 1896 Carl Zuckmayer (d. 1977), author and dramatist 1896 Louis Bromfield (d. 1956), writer 1901 Marlene Dietrich (d. May 6, 1992), Cherman-born American actress and singer (The Blue Angel; Shanghai Express), chosen by Empire magazine as one of the '100 sexiest stars in film history'. Yup, that's what it said. 1906 Oscar Levant (d. 1972), composer, actor 1907 Sebastian Haffner (d. 1999), publicist 1915 William Masters (d. 2001), sexologist 1927 Agnes Nixon, soap opera producer, director, writer 1943 Cokie Roberts, journalist   1944 Senator Bob Brown (Dr Robert James Brown), Australian Senator, the leader of the Australian Greens and the first openly homosexual member of the Parliament of Australia. Bob Brown was born in Oberon, New South Wales and graduated in medicine from Sydney University. He moved to Tasmania in 1972 and worked as a general medical practitioner in Launceston. He soon became involved in the state's environmentalist movement, in particular the campaign to save Lake Pedder, and was a member of the United Tasmania Group in 1972, Australia's first 'green' party. In a newspaper interview at this time, Brown 'came out' as gay. In 1978 Brown was appointed director of the Tasmanian Wilderness Society. In the early 1980s he emerged as a leader of the campaign to prevent construction of the Franklin Dam, which would have drowned the Franklin River valley as part of a hydroelectricity project. The campaign was a success, and in 1983 Brown was elected to the Tasmanian Parliament as its first Green member. In 1989 Tasmania's system of proportional representation allowed the Greens to win five out of 35 seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly, and Brown became their unofficial leader (the Greens do not have formal leadership positions). He agreed to support a minority Labor Party government, but this agreement broke down over forestry issues in 1992. In 1993 Brown resigned from the House of Assembly and stood unsuccessfully for the federal House of Representatives. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate for Tasmania in 1996, and was an outspoken voice in opposition to the conservative government of John Howard, and in support of green and human rights issues, including international issues such as Tibet, East Timor and West Papua. Senator Brown created international headlines on October 23, 2003 when he was suspended from the Parliament for breaking with protocol and interjecting during an address by the visiting President of the United States, George W Bush. Brown's Senate colleague, Kerry Nettle, was also suspended. When President Bush visited Canberra, left-wing members of the Labor Party decided to present him with a letter setting out their opposition to the Iraq war, but not to disrupt his speech. Only Brown and Nettle took their opposition to the point of interjecting during his address to a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament. During Bush's speech Brown and Nettle wore signs referring to David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, two Australian citizens currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, following their apprehension by United States forces in either (this is disputed) Afghanistan or Pakistan. After the speech, however, Brown shook Bush's hand. Bush accepted the interjections with good humour, but the Speaker of the House, Neil Andrew, formally "named" Brown and Nettle and they were suspended from the Parliament for 24 hours which prevented them from being present for -- and making similar interjections during -- a similar address from Chinese President Hu Jintao the next day. In December 2004, Gunns Limited attempted to sue Brown and others for $6.3 million, in an action which media reports say related to "ongoing damaging campaigns and activities" against the company. The original Statement of Claim issued by Gunns was struck out by the Supreme Court and costs were awarded against Gunns for the initial proceedings. Brown has published several books including Wild Rivers (1983), Lake Pedder (1986), Tarkine Trails (1994), The Greens (1996) (with Peter Singer) and Memo For A Saner World (2004). In 2004 James Norman published the first authorized biography of Brown, entitled Bob Brown: A Gentle Revolutionary. Brown lives in Hobart, Tasmania with his long-time partner. Source: Wikipedia Senator Brown's website    Senator Brown's parliamentary website George W Bush's speech to the Australian Parliament    Bob Brown suspended over blackmail barb The Writ lodged in the Supreme Court of Victoria by Gunns against Bob Brown and others     1948 Gérard Depardieu, French actor (Green Card) 1960 Maryam d'Abo, actress 1965 Salman Khan, actor, India 1973 Wilson Cruz, actor 1975 Heather O'Rourke (d. 1988), child actress (Poltergeist)   Phew!! Have a rest before the big This day in history section Send free e-cards to friends & family for celebrations & any topic Do you forget birthdays and anniversaries? Schedule your cards to be sent during the coming year. Zodiac birthday Free astrology e-cards New Year's Eve [ Dec 31 ] Birthdays Hanukkah [ Varies ] Kwanzaa [ Dec 26 - Jan 1 ] Varies Full Moon Day Varies Friday the 13th Varies Buddhist e-cards Varies Christian e-cards Varies Hindu e-cards Varies Jewish e-cards Varies Muslim e-cards Varies Pagan e-cards Varies Peace e-cards Varies Friendship e-cards Varies Hanukkah December 21 Yule 21 World Peace Day 21 Yalda 21 Look At The Bright Side Day 21 Crossword Puzzle Day 22 Christmas Tree Light Day 23 Popcorn Popping Day 23 Two Days To Go 23 Feast Of The Radishes 24 Eggnog Day 25 Christmas 25 Christmas Around The World 26 Boxing Day 26 Candy Cane Day 26 Coffee Percolator Day 27 Fruitcake Day 28 Chocolate Day 28 Return A Gift For Cold Hard Cash Day 28 Call-A-Friend Day 29 Ice Skating Day 29 Bowling Day 29 Enjoying ESP Day 30 Day Before New Year's Eve Day 31 New Year's Eve January 1 New Year 1 Bad Hangover Day 1 Universal Hour Of Peace 1 Daydreamers' Day 1 Solemnity Of Mary 1 Bloody Mary Day 1 New Year's Day Parade (Wisconsin, USA) 2 Science Fiction Day 2 Get Over It Day 3 Drinking Straw Day 3 Start Your New Year's Resolution Day 3 Festival Of Sleep Day ... More Events Visit the Blogmanac, where today's Almanac is 'live' And I hope you will sign my GuestMap Your family and friends will get a kick when they hear their own name being sung in 'Happy Birthday'!! You can schedule your singing cards in advance, and even add your own face to funny animations. (Pay cards)       If you are enjoying this page, click to receive similar items daily with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine Webmaster, webmasters free content, or else articles at very reasonable rates Pip Wilson's articles are available for your website or publication, on application. Further details   631 CE A Naranjo captive in a Caracol (in the Cayo District of the nation of Belize) war underwent some grisly sacrificial rite under the auspices of a Calakmul (Campeche, Mexico) lord, resulting in the capture of Waxaklahun U-Bah-Chan, or 18-Rabbit (pictured), the Mayan snake divinity of Naranjo (ancient city of the Maya civilization in the Peten department of Guatemala, about 10 km west of the border with Belize). (Sources differ widely as to date. I have conflicting dates at May 3, January 2, January 10, which I would like to reconcile. Any information gratefully received at Corrigenda.) 18-Rabbit    Early History of Belize    Mayan History   1512 Puerto Rico: The Burgos Law was issued by Ferdinand II of Aragón, regulating relations between Spaniards and the conquered Indians, particularly to ensure the spiritual and material welfare of the latter, who were often severely treated. The Spaniards and Taíno Indians had a falling out in 1510, and the following year the Taíno Indians revolted against the Spaniards. Ponce de León ordered 6,000 shot; survivors fled to mountains or left the island. The history of an oppressed people is hidden in the lies and the agreed-upon myth of its conquerors. Meridel Le Sueur, author Source: The Daily Bleed   1675 England: In the London Gazette, 27-30 December, 1675, King Charles II issued a 'Proclamation Suppressing Coffee-Houses' The proclamation was withdrawn on January 8, 1676, 12 days after it was issued, largely due to public disapproval and ridicule, but also because of the questionable legality of the proclamation itself. "Coffee-houses in England had become meeting-places for intellectuals and other groups who would discuss politics and other subjects. King Charles had been alerted by spies to the seditious possibilities of the coffee-houses, and made a proclamation suppressing the establishments; it was withdrawn because it was legally unsustainable in its curbing of basic rights."   Source "The government of the day, however, found that, in making this proclamation, they had gone a step too far. So early as this period, the coffee-house had become a power in the land—as Macaulay tells us—a most important political institution, when public meetings, harangues, resolutions, and the rest of the machinery of agitation, had not come into fashion, and nothing resembling a newspaper existed. In such circumstances, the coffee-houses were the chief organs through which the public opinion of the metropolis vented itself. Consequently, on a petition of the merchants and retailers of coffee, permission was granted to keep the coffee-houses open for six months, under an admonition that the masters of them should prevent all scandalous papers, books, and libels from being read in them; and hinder every person from declaring, uttering, or divulging all manner of false and scandalous reports against government, or the ministers thereof. The absurdity of constituting every maker of a cup of coffee a censor of the press, was too great for even those days; the proclamation was laughed at, and no more was heard of the suppression of coffee-houses."   Source 1703 Portugal and England signed the Methuen Treaty, which gave preference to Portuguese imported wines into England. 1763 New World: A troop of 50 armed men entered the Workhouse at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and hatchetted to death the only 14 surviving Conestoga Indians (the rest of the tribe having been similarly dispensed with 13 days previously). Having finished their work, the troop, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, "huzzahed in triumph as if it had gained a victory, and rode off unmolested."   1803 At 9 pm, William Buckley (1780 - January 30, 1856), Cheshire, UK-born convict in Australia, escaped. Thus began his 32 years of living in the bush among Aboriginal tribespeople, the only European in what we now call the State of Victoria. In 1799, the more than 2-metre-tall (6' 7") teenager had gone to Holland to fight, under the command of the Duke of York, against Napoleon. Later, while in London, he was convicted of stealing a bolt of cloth which he swore he had been carrying for a woman and didn't know was stolen. Despite his war service record, and the relative insignificance of his crime, William Buckley was sentenced to transportation to New South Wales for 14 years (this was in the days when the British still believed that sending people to Australia was a punishment). "Buckley left England in April 1803, aboard the H.M.S. Calcutta; a ship that was destined to be one of two sent to Port Phillip Bay to form a new settlement under Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins. They arrived in October 1803, and anchored off the south-eastern side of the bay, near modern day Portsea. The new settlement soon ran into problems, and was about to be abandoned when, on 27 December 1803, Buckley and two other convicts cut loose a boat and made their escape (it is also reported that he and eighteen others attempted to escape by jumping overboard; one being shot dead and twelve captured). Buckley, along with his two companions, made his way around the bay, and in the vicinity of present day Melbourne, the party split up. His companions went north-east, hoping to reach Sydney, which they thought couldn't be far (some 600 miles!), and Buckley, tired and dehydrated, continued alone around the bay."   Source: Wikipedia For a few days he wandered in the bush without sustenance. Some friendly indigenous people of the Wathaurong tribe of the Barwon River district caught a yabbie (freshwater crayfish) for him, which he cooked and ate. However, fearing that they might prove unfriendly, he decided for a time to take his chances in the bush. It was not long, though, before the hardships he encountered made him decide to seek out Aboriginal people again, so he set out to where he had met them before. Finding a spear stuck in a grave, and being so weak from thirst and hunger, he took it for support. "By now he was much weakened by lack of food and water, and almost drowned while crossing the Kaaraf. This mishap was followed by a miserable night spent under a bush praying to God to save him. The wild dogs howled. "His prayers were answered, because the next day he was rescued by Wathaurong natives who found him close to death and after more chest beating, they took him to their huts and fed him on a mixture of gum and water, calling him Murrangurk, which he thought was the name of the man killed in a recent battle and whose spear he had found. "They think that all white people previous to death were belonging to their own tribes, thus returned to life a different colour. In cases where they have killed white men, it has generally been because they imagined them to have originally been enemies, or belonging to tribes with whom they were hostile. (p. 34) "The spear was left in the warrior's grave to enable him to catch food on his return to the living. As Murrangurk, Buckley was given a joyous reception back into the tribe and an all night corroborree celebrated his return. Buckley was concerned that they were preparing him for dinner, but was reassured when he was given a plate of witchetty grubs, roasted roots, and some hunting and fighting weapons as was worthy of a loved one returning from the dead. "He made the decision to become one of them, and 'finding myself tolerably at home, I evinced a desire to make myself useful, by fetching water, carrying wood, and so forth'." (p. 37)   Source On July 7, 1835, Buckley walked into the camp of English explorer John Batman and re-entered Western society. In 1850, he co-wrote Life and Adventures of William Buckley: 32 Years a Wanderer with journalist John Morgan, eventually receiving a pension of ₤30 per annum from the Victorian Government for services rendered to the colony of Victoria.   Buckley and the Bunyip Buckley might have been the first European to see, or believe he had seen, a bunyip, an Australian native animal, a being from Australian Aboriginal mythology, or else just a tale from the vaults of cryptozoology: I could never see any part [of the bunyip] except the back, which appeared to be covered with feathers of a dusky-grey colour. It seemed to be about the size of a full-grown calf … When alone, I several times attempted to spear a Bun-yip; but had the natives seen me do so it would have caused great displeasure. And again, had I succeeded in killing, or even wounding one, my own life would probably have paid the forfeit; they considering the animal … something supernatural. John Morgan, Life and Adventures of William Buckley, 1852 More at Wikipedia, which, at time of writing, gives January 1 as his date of death   Wild white man : a condensed account of the adventures of William Buckley who lived in exile for 32 years (1803-35) amongst the black people of the unexplored regions of Port Phillip by Kevin Hayden   Life and Adventures of William Buckley: 32 Years a Wanderer, by John Morgan A bibliography of William Buckley    Timeline    More Buckley's chance In Australia there is a common expression, 'Buckley's', short for 'Buckley's chance', meaning 'without a chance or hope', as in the phrase, "You've got Buckley's, mate". Its configuration, then, is similar to 'Hobson's choice'*, which is no choice at all. There are two main contenders for the original creation of this term. One is that there was a department store, named Buckley and Nunn's. Hence, one has two chances: Buckley's and none. The other is that it derives from William Buckley. *Hobson’s choice Thomas Hobson (or Tobias Hobson; died 1631) was the first man in England that let out hackney horses. When a man came for a horse he was led into the stable, where there was a great choice, but he obliged him to take the horse which stood next to the stable-door; so that every customer was alike well served according to his chance,—from whence it became a proverb when what ought to be your election was forced upon you, to say, “Hobson’s choice.”—Spectator, No. 509.   Source   Joanna Southcott 1814 Death of Joanna Southcott (b. April, 1750), failed English prophetess. Southcott, originally an English Methodist, represented herself as a spiritual leader and prophetess, gathering a côterie of followers. She said she was the "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars" (Revelation xii, 1). There was no religious leader more discussed in 19th-Century Britain than Southcott. Her political views appear to have been quite reactionary, and she opposed Tom Paine, penning a tract called An Answer to Thomas Paine’s Third Part of the Age of Reason. When she was 64 she declared she would give birth to a child who would become a great spiritual leader on October 19, 1814. The appointed day came and went, Joanna Southcott fell into a trance, died soon after, and was buried in St John's Wood Chapel. She left a mysterious locked wooden box which was not to be opened until England was in a crisis, and then only in the presence of all 24 bishops of the Church of England (there were only 24 at the time), who were to spend a fixed period of time beforehand studying Southcott’s prophecies. Her followers unsuccessfully tried to get the bishops to do so in both the Crimean War and World War I. When 'Joanna Southcott's Box' was finally opened in the presence of a solitary, reluctant prelate (the Bishop of Grantham) in 1927, it was found to contain a few inconsequential items and papers, a lottery ticket and a horse-pistol. From Wikipedia: However, the followers of Southcott later claimed that the box opened was not the authentic one. An advertising campaign on billboards and in British national newspapers such as the Sunday Express was run in the 1960s and 1970s by what is viewed as the most prominent group of Southcottians, the Panacea Society in Bedford (formed 1920), to try to persuade the 24 bishops to have the box opened. Their slogan was: "War, disease, crime and banditry will increase until the Bishops open Joanna Southcott's box." According to the Panacea Society, this true box is in their possession at a secret location for safekeeping, with its whereabouts only to be disclosed when a meeting with the bishops has been arranged. Southcott prophesied that the Day of Judgement would come in the year 2004, and her followers state that if the contents of the box have not been studied beforehand, the world will have to meet it unprepared. The efforts of the Society have so far been unsuccessful; Church of England officials, including the Rt. Rev. David Farmborough (Bishop of Bedford) have commented that for them to take part in the opening would be to unnecessarily arouse public interest in the affair. The story of the box has become something of a source of ridicule in Britain – for example, it featured in a sketch by Monty Python's Flying Circus in the 1970s. "The delusion spread rapidly and extensively, especially in the vicinity of London, and the number of converts is said to have amounted to upwards of one hundred thousand. Most of them were of the humbler order, and remarkable for their ignorance and credulity; but a few were of the more educated classes, among whom were two or three clergymen. One of the clergymen, on being reproved by his diocesan, offered to resign his living if 'the holy Johanna,' as he styled her, failed to appear on a certain day with the expected Messiah in her arms. About the close of 1814, however, the prophetess herself began to have misgivings, and in one of her lucid intervals, she declared that 'if she had been deceived, she had herself been the sport of some spirit either good or evil.'  "On the 27th of December in that year, death put an end to her expectations—but not to those of her disciples. They would not believe that she was really dead. Her body was kept unburied till the most active signs of decomposition appeared; it was also subjected to a post-mortem examination, and the cause of her peculiar appearance fully accounted for on medical principles. Still, numbers of her followers refused to believe she was dead; others flattered themselves that she would speedily rise again, and bound themselves by a vow not to shave their beards till her resurrection.  "It is scarcely necessary to state, that most of them have passed to their graves unshorn. A few are still living, and within the last few years several families of her disciples were residing together near Chatham, in Kent, remarkable for the length of their beards, and the general singularity of their manners and appearance. Joanna Southcott was interred, under a fictitious name, in the burial-ground attached to the chapel in St. John's Wood, London. 'A stone has since been erected to her memory, which, after reciting her age and other usual particulars, concludes with some lines, evidently the composition of a still unshaken believer, the fervor of whose faith far exceeds his inspiration as a poet.'" Robert Chambers, (Ed.), The Book of Days: A miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar, etc, W & R Chambers, London, 1881 (1879 Edition is online and 1869 edition here with CD-ROM available; See also The English Year: A Personal Selection from Chambers's Book of Days) “At her request and the insistence of her followers her body was kept warm for four days and four nights before a dissection to ascertain the truth of the pregnancy and the cause of death was performed. She was then buried at night, to avoid drawing crowds. The results of the dissection (no baby, and no established cause of death: appearance of pregnancy the result of flatulence and ‘extensive omental fat’) were publicly available.”   Source Joanna Southcott website    Joanna Southcott collection    Her memorial    Panacaea Society    More More such disappointments, in the Failed Prophecies page in the Scriptorium   1815 The Peace Society was founded, Massachusetts, USA. 1827 USA: Georgia passed a law proclaiming "all the lands of Georgia belong to her absolutely. The Indians are tenants at her will." In another three years, legislation mandated forcible removal of all Indians to west of the Mississippi River. Source: The Daily Bleed   1831 Charles Darwin, 22, set sail in the HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain Robert Fitzroy, on a scientific expedition to South America. He also visited Australia, arriving in Sydney on January 12, 1836. Did Darwin convert to Christianity? It is a common myth that Charles Darwin became a Christian on his deathbed. This story can be traced to one Lady Hope. However, Darwin's son, Francis, put paid to this supposition: "Lady Hope's account of my father's views on religion is quite untrue. I have publicly accused her of falsehood, but have not seen any reply. My father's agnostic point of view is given in my 'Life and Letters of Charles Darwin,' Vol. I., pp. 304-317. You are at liberty to publish the above statement. Indeed, I shall be glad if you will do so. Yours faithfully, Francis Darwin. Brookthorpe, Gloucester. May 28, 1918."   Source 1834 Charles Lamb (b. 1775), English essayist, died. 1836 The worst ever avalanche in England occurred at Lewes, Sussex, killing 8 people. 1836 Death of Stephen F Austin, American pioneer (b. 1793). 1845 The anaesthetic, ether, was used for childbirth for the first time (by Dr Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia, USA). 1861 Mikhail Bakunin, the Russian anarchist, arrived in London. 1866 Charles Dickens wrote to an inquiring reader: "Dear Madame, you make an absurd, though common mistake in supposing that any human creature can help you to be an authoress, if you cannot become one in virtue of your own powers ..." 1892 Gold fields were discovered in Utah, USA. 1893 Victor Considérant (b. 1808), French Utopian socialist, died. 1896 Death of John Brown, manufacturer. 1900 American anti-booze campaigner, Carrie A Nation, staged her first bottle-smashing temperance raid on a saloon at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Nation usually did her damage with a hatchet, calling her vandalism “hatchetation”. 1900 Death of William George Armstrong, inventor, industrialist and engineer (b. 1810). 1901 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Indian leader and proponent of civil disobedience, moved a resolution on South Africa at a Calcutta Congress session. 1904 The first state-subsidised theatre in the world, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, opened. Its leading lights included William Butler Yeats. 1904 JM Barrie's Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, opened at the Duke of York's theatre in London. Preface to the play  Peter Pan guy   1908 Followers of Lee Spengler gathered atop South Mountain in white to await the world's end. 1914 England: Founding of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR), a multi-faith peace group, Cambridge. 1918 Beginning of Great Poland Uprising. 1927 The musical Showboat, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened to a captivated audience in Florenz Ziegfeld's theatre on Broadway. 1929 The All-India National Congress in Lahore threatened civil disobedience if independence is not granted India. 1932 Radio City Music Hall opened, New York, USA. 1934 The first Youth Hostel opened. 1941 Manila was bombed by the Japanese. 1945 The World Bank was created with the signing of an agreement by 28 particularly deluded nations. 1945 Korea was divided 1947 USA: Howdy Doody, a children's television program, made its debut (NBC). 1949 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted Indonesia sovereignty. 1965 A North Sea oil rig, the Sea Gem, capsized, killing 13. 1968 America's long-running radio program, The Breakfast Club signed off for the last time (ABC radio). 1972 Australia ended its involvement in the Vietnam War.   1978 Spain became a democracy after 40 years of dictatorship. 1979 The Soviet Union seized control of Afghanistan and Babrak Karmal replaced overthrown and executed President Hafizullah Amin.  Over the next decade, the USSR lost about 15,000 soldiers in this vain conquest; by many estimates, the Afghan people lost about 1,000 times that many soldiers and civilians (1,500,000), and several million people fled as refugees. The USA and USSR fought it out as a proxy war between the two superpowers, and Afghanistan proved to be a useful ground for testing products of the military-industrial complexes of both empires. Afghanistan: a history of invasion 1980 After a ten-year break, Egypt and Syria resumed diplomatic relations. 1983 Mehmet Ali Agca was visited in prison by the man he shot, Pope John Paul II, and begged his forgiveness. 1985 Palestinian guerrillas killed twenty people inside Rome and Vienna airports. 1985 American naturalist Dian Fossey was found murdered in Rwanda. 1996 Taliban forces recaptured the strategic Bagram air base, entrenching their buffer zone around Kabul. 1997 Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright was assassinated in Northern Ireland. 2001 The People's Republic of China was granted permanent normal trade status with the United States. 2002 Two truck bombs killed 72 and wounded about 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya.   Tomorrow: Childermas: 'unluckiest day of the year'    Main calendar | Yesterday | Tomorrow | Search   George Carlin says 1. If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented? 2. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes? 3. Why do we say something is out of whack? What's a whack? 4. Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? 5. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled? 6. When someone asks you, "A penny for your thoughts" and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny? 7. Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? 8. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a race car not called a racist? 9. Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites? 10. Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things? 11. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence? 12. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed? 13. If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for? 14. Do people who spend $2.00 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water know that spelling it backwards is NAIVE? 15. OK...so if the Jacksonville Jaguars are known as the "Jags" and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known as the "Bucs", what does that make the Tennessee Titans ? [The Houston Oilers! - M&M] 16. If 4 out of 5 people suffer from diarrhea ... does that mean the fifth one enjoys it?  Wikipedia and David Brown's prodigious Daily Bleed are both excellent resources that aid my research. I frequently make use of their generously liberal 'fair use', 'copyleft' and 'anti-copyright' policies, with much gratitude. © My own copyright policy is also liberal, but as this is my livelihood, conditions apply. Read more about today at Wilson's Blogmanac

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